Harvard Fencing in Sixth; Kiefer, Mills and Vloka in Position for Individual Titles

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The women's portion
of the 2011 NCAA Fencing Championship began Saturday, and by day's
end, Harvard had three athletes in the top two of their respective
weapon's standings, putting them within striking distance of a
national title heading into Sunday.

Junior co-captain and defending national champion Caroline Vloka
rebounded from a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Region
championship March 13 to top of the women's sabre standings at the
national championship two weeks later. Vloka raked in 13 victories
Saturday and scored 67 touches with a +37 scoring index, falling
just once to Ivy League rival Eliza Stone of Princeton, who
finished day one in second place behind Vloka with 12 wins.

Freshman Alexandra
Kiefer grabbed 12 wins to finish Saturday tied for first in the
foil event with 2008 Olympian and two-time national
champion Doris Willette of Penn State. Both fencers went 12-2
on day one. Kiefer landed more touches than Willette in 14 bouts,
66-65, but Willette had the better scoring index (+38 to +31). The
two will face each other Sunday in the final portion of the
round-robin format. Kiefer defeated Willette in January at the St.
John's Super Cup.

Junior Noam
Mills, a two-time runner-up at the NCAA Fencing Championship,
found herself in a familiar postition Saturday, looking up at the
leader in the women's epee competition. Mills won 12 bouts to sit
in a tie for second place after day one, trailing Notre Dame's
Courtney Hurley by one victory. Mills and Hurley will go
head-to-head Sunday in the second session of round-robin play.

Sophomore Felicia Sun wrapped up day one with two victories in
the women's epee. Sophomore Katherine Chou
earned seven wins and is currently 15th after the first day.

The second portion of the round-robin, team scoring format will
conclude Sunday. The top four finishers in each weapon will move on
to the medal rounds, with semifinals and finals of 15-touch bouts
determining the individual national champions. Watch the action
live from Ohio State beginning at 9:30 a.m. on ncaa.com.